Poll: Have you ever gotten a game because you liked what the demo/free game had?

[Daniel Janhagen]

Erm...Am i the only one (no you're never) old enough to remember the demo discs of PC gamer and the like?

How about shareware before that? I got Doom 1 & 2 (on the strength of the Doom 1 shareware diskette) Castle of the Winds, Epic Pinball, One Must Fall 2097, Jazz Jackrabbit and a couple of other games because I liked the shareware version.


Recently: Binary Domain and Tropico 4 (I'm not 100% sure about having played a Tropico 4 demo, but I think so).

 

[Abomination]

I was on the fence about Rome 2: Total War but after seeing the Extra Credits special episodes about the Punic Wars I just had to show my appreciation for sponsoring something like that - even if it was an obvious marketing ploy... but it was the BEST kind of marketing I've ever seen.

 

[Sandjube]

Did that with magicka, actually. I regret nothing. The demo had like half the spells and like two levels and still kept me entertained for ages, so.

 

[Do4600]

Yes, many, many, many games. until they stopped making demos.

I think I played the Hitman 47 demo over one hundred times.

 

[Compatriot Block]

Metal Gear Rising, most recently. The best part is that the gameplay is even better in the actual game, and the demo was no slouch.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Let's see. .I bought portal 2 because i got portal for free a few years back (and then bought it on ps3).

Actually, most of the games I get are because I played the demo enjoyed it and bought it. It's why i bought limbo on both steam and 360. It's rare for me to see someone playing a game or just getting it recommended to me without me playing a demo or borrowing it to try.

 

[RogueNinja299]

Destroy All Humans, Warcraft 3, Freespace 2 and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of war.

I'm also looking at getting Fire Emblem: Awakening because I had fun with the demo even though I suck.

 

[keiji_Maeda]

Erm...Am i the only one (no you're never) old enough to remember the demo discs of PC gamer and the like?

PC Gamer was the one with Coconut Monkey, right?

My brother and I joked about him frequently.

Those discs sold us on many a game, btw

Danged!

had to Google me up some coconut monkey ops, i had no idea that he hada a name, in my part of the world he showed up occasionally, but wasn't no real mascot he wan't.

Looking back, i kinda wish he had been tho'

 

[keiji_Maeda]

Erm...Am i the only one (no you're never) old enough to remember the demo discs of PC gamer and the like?

I remember getting Dark colony, Baldurs gate, Dungeon keeper 2, Heroes of might and magic II&III

And a bunch of jazzy likes who had swingin' demos.

But lately? I guess Mass effect and Dragon Age the first.

I used to buy PC Gamer exclusively for the demo disks. Once those disappeared I still bought it for the articles, but now I can find pretty much everything online so I stopped bothering with the magazine.

As for the OT; yes, I bought many of my games in the past after playing the aforementioned PC gamer demos.

Dissapointment

A Noun, the feeling one experiences when that months mag' was delayed or hadn't been stocked properly on that occasion.

 

[keiji_Maeda]

Erm...Am i the only one (no you're never) old enough to remember the demo discs of PC gamer and the like?

How about shareware before that? I got Doom 1 & 2 (on the strength of the Doom 1 shareware diskette) Castle of the Winds, Epic Pinball, One Must Fall 2097, Jazz Jackrabbit and a couple of other games because I liked the shareware version.


Recently: Binary Domain and Tropico 4 (I'm not 100% sure about having played a Tropico 4 demo, but I think so).

Aaaah, Jazz jackrabbit, or as me an' my chums used to call it. That game that was like sonic, if sonic had been a green rabbit with a gun and a cool princess that kicked arse.

Always did have a soft spot for it.

I played Doom 2 for a while..but i think...that was....freeware.. 'hem hem*

 

[tzimize]

Albion. An old rpg from Blue Byte and one of my ALL time favorite games.

I played the demo (got it from a demo-cd from a pc magazine, yeah back in those days ) and got the game at the first opportunity. One of the best purchases I've ever done. And the box looked BRILLIANT.

The demo was a perfect length, with demonstrations of every part of the game you could want, and it completely enthralled me.

The game is so disturbingly good I can EASILY recommend it to any rpg/sci-fi/fantasy fan. There are some very odd similarities between it and the lore in the Avatar movie which baffled me a bit on a recent playthrough.

The combat is turnbased and very simple, but difficult. The adventure is a combination of 2d outside and 3d inside exploration. While the 3d is not very awesome, the 2d is very neat and to me, nostalgic. The atmosphere and music is a perfect 10. Give this game a chance to grab you, and you'll be hooked to the end.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Bulletstorm, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Halo Wars, Halo: Reach (Beta), CoD: World at War, Crysis 2, Democracy 2, Naval War: Arctic Circle, and many others.

 

[Tien Shen]

XCOM:Enemy Unknown. I wasn't sold on it, but after getting the demo on Steam, I had no qualms this was a gonna be a good remake.

 

[Jamieson 90]

Yep I bought Machinarium after playing the free demo since I loved it so much; proved to be a great buy.

http://machinarium.net/demo/

 

[sir neillios]

Oh the memories! It would be easier to list the games from the PS2 era that I bought which I HADN'T played a demo of. I subscribed to the Official Playstation 2 magazine for about five years, each issue came with a demo disk. Made a lot of my purchases based on those plays. I likely still have them all in the attic somewhere.

These days, not really. I will always watch a lengthy gameplay video of any game these days before I purchase it, mostly Totalbiscuit's WTF is...? series. I don't have the fastest internet, so it makes little sense to download several gigs of a demo, delete it and download the full title. Lets look at my steam list.... nope, I don't think any of these I played the demo for!

 

[Tohru_Readman]

The most recent games have been: Rayman Origins and Wipeout 2048. Love when demos are available but most of the time I end up just checking out reviews.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Lots of times back in the days when demo's were still common. It used to be my main method of determining whether or not I'd buy a game. Nowadays, not so much.

As for a particular example:
I remember playing the Deus Ex demo and absolutely loving it. I went through it in every possible, found every little item and secret. I wanted the game so badly but couldn't find a copy anywhere. Took about 3-4 years before I stumbled upon one by sheer chance. Even though by then it was already a dinosaur, the full game didn't disappoint.

 

[keniakittykat]

Sonic unleashed... Yes, there was a demo level in a toy store, and I was really excited! ... Then I bought the game... The disappointment I felt knows no bounds.

 

[soren7550]

For me, it was BioShock. And kinda Minecraft and Diablo 3 (boyfriend bought them after playing the demos himself, but only after I played through them first). I wanted to get Kingdoms of Amalur after playing the demo, but that never happened.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Guilty as charged! Ever since I played that demo of the first couple levels or so, I knew I needed to buy this game.

I was not disappointed.